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Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said Bobby Vanderhall, age 39, of Hempstead, was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on Friday, Feb. 18 for the August 2017 killings.
According to the indictment, around 1 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2017, Vanderhall forcibly entered his family home in Hempstead with a hammer and screwdriver.
Once inside, Vanderhall used the hammer to bludgeon his mother, Lynn, his sister, Melissa, and his sister’s friend, Janel Simpson, to death, the indictment said.
Vanderhall also used kitchen knives to stab his mother and sister several times.
A fourth victim who was in the home was also attacked but was able to escape with injuries to her wrist, arm, and head, and alerted police, the indictment showed.
Vanderhall fled the scene and was arrested a few hours later by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department.
“An act of swift and extreme violence took the lives of three individuals and tore apart two families,” said Donnelly. “This sentence is the just punishment for these heinous crimes. NCDA continues to keep the Vanderhall and Simpson families in our thoughts as they try to heal from this tragedy.”
Vanderhall pleaded guilty to the crimes in October 2021.
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